She Works Hard for the money
by i-lovedyoufirst
Summary: Luke and Lorelai are working on round two of their relationship, but this time Lorelai's the one keeping secrets. Not quite as dramatic as it sounds.
1. Chapter 1

1

Lorelai Gilmore was cranky.

This was not, in and of itself, such a strange thing. Her emotions were intense and apt to change at the drop of a hat. Many things could make her cranky, from too much snow to talking during movie night to Doosey's being out of Red Vines. This time it was different, though. This time her crankiness was not fleeting, it was not slight, and it was not some long-term bit. It was consistent, if underlying, and it was growing daily. Lorelai Gilmore was cranky, and Luke Danes was pretty sure he knew why.

"Coffee," he said obviously, setting down a huge cup of black, steaming coffee in front of her. "Drink."

"I didn't order coffee," she told him without looking up from her laptop. Michele had screwed something up _again,_ and it had fallen to her to fix it, of course. Of _course._

"I know you didn't. You didn't today, and you didn't yesterday. You haven't had a single cup of my coffee all week. I'm actually starting to feel a little insulted. Now drink."

"If I wanted coffee, I would've ordered coffee, Luke," she assured him, still not averting her eyes from the glowing screen.

"I don't care if _you_ want the coffee. I want you to drink it for me. And for my customers, who are starting to mistake you for me. And for Kirk, who you threatened to kick in the head this morning."

"I threaten to kick Kirk a lot."

"But not usually while waving your stiletto in his face."

"I don't need the coffee, Luke."

"Lorelai." She looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time since she'd sat down and ordered nothing.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. Things are just crazy this morning." He held her gaze, but didn't push it. Instead, he believed her. Rather, he _tried_ to. Luke had been working on trusting her, on believing her, for the past three months, ever since Rory left to follow the campaign trail and since Lorelai had shown up at his door, crying and rambling and looking so damn perfect that he hadn't said a single word as he pulled her close and put his lips to work quieting hers.

Believing her could be hard work, though.

"Okay. But will you at least drink the coffee?"

"No. Really, though, it's okay. I gave it up for Lent."

"It's August."

"Well, then I gave it up for August." Her smile was large, but so were the bags under her eyes, and all at once he was far too exhausted to deal with her.

"Fine." He left her table with the cup of coffee, and she whimpered quietly as he poured it down the sink. Whimpered, but said nothing. She had successfully denied herself once again, and another two dollars had been saved as a result of her sacrifice.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Rory could tell that something was off, too.

"You sound crabby."

"How could you possibly know that I sound crabby? You're twelve million—"

"Three hundred," Rory interrupted preemptively.

"—seventy billion miles away, and I've only said two sentences. Even if I _was_ crabby, there'd be no way for you to know just from 'Hello' and 'How are you,' so unless I burst into a dry-land rendition of _Under the Sea_, you have absolutely no reason to accuse me of being crabby."

"Well congratulations, that little rant was _fantastic_ proof that you're not crabby. Well done."

"Quiet, you. How are things going over there, ninety five zillion miles away?"

"Things here in _Washington_ are fine, Mom. There's another appearance tonight, so I'll be working."

"Making any friends?"

"I'm not pining away from loneliness, if that's what you're asking. I've had a lot of work to do."

"But how have you been without—"

"How are things with Luke, Mom?"

"Good deflection there. Things with Luke are fine."

"Just 'fine'?"

"They're great."

"But you said fine!"

"They're _great._"

"Fine." There was a brief silence on the line before Rory sighed. "We're just a couple of bright and shimmering rays of sunshine, huh?"

"Oh yeah, we shimmer with the best of them."

"What's wrong, Mom? You don't sound right. Is it Luke? You can tell me. Really."

"It's not, kid. Really." Lorelai smiled for a minute, trying for the umpteenth to figure out how she had managed to end up with a kid as sweet as Rory. When she came up with nothing, she went on. "Just some stuff I've got to deal with on my own for a while. Can we leave it at that for now?"

"And you're _sure_ it's got nothing to do with Luke?"

"There are only so many times I can answer one question."

At last, Rory believed her. "Okay. I just really want you to be happy, Mom. I want things to work out for you this time. For both of you."

"I really think it will, you know."

"I know."

"Good."

Silence again. Sometimes it was like this, Lorelai had come to realize. Some days they had less to talk about than others, and some days they had less they were _willing_ to talk about. Today was one of those days. It had bothered her at first, these silences that were so new and strange to their normally fluid relationship. It hadn't taken long for her to realize that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. All their lives they'd been together, each one unable to work through things to satisfaction without the input of the other. They were learning that particular lesson now, and as uncomfortable as it could sometimes be, Lorelai knew it would be good for them in the long run. She suspected Rory felt the same.

"I should get going," Rory said at last. "I've got get ready for tonight. But I'll be home in two weeks for a while, and then we shall party hardy."

"You bet."

"Love you, mom."

"Love you too, kid."

And just like that, Lorelai was alone again.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Luke was worried, and also a little pissed off.

There was something off about Lorelai, and the fact that he couldn't figure out what it was had him annoyed with her, and angry at himself. He'd been so sure that it was financial trouble at first, when she stopped ordering from the diner. He'd attempted to wait it out, to let her tell him herself, but she hadn't taken the bait. If it _was_ money, he knew how mortified she'd be if were to call her out on it. He'd been content to leave her to her own devices, to let _her_ let him know when she felt like she should. But she hadn't, and that was when he really started to worry.

It had to be something big. Money problems were money problems. They were something easily handled, and _he_ knew that _she_ knew that he was set, financially. After all, she'd come to him before on account of money, asking him to help fund the inn when things were too tough for her and Sookie. Granted, that hadn't gone exactly the way she'd planned, but things had worked out just the same. Besides, they were _together_ now. That changed everything. If she was having trouble with money, all she needed to do was ask. She knew that.

This was the cause of the worry that was slowly, annoyingly, growing into something more like vague panic. If it wasn't money, then his mind was free to run wild with ideas about what it _actually_ was. His first thought was that something was wrong with Rory, but that didn't make sense. Even before they'd been together, Luke had always been one of the first that Lorelai would come to when something bad happened with Rory. There was no reason for that to change now, except to grow stronger, so he scratched it.

The only thing he could think that would make complete sense, and that scared him practically to death and back, was that she was sick. Really, seriously sick. It was the only thing he could conceive of that would account for her sudden and drastic lack of appetite, and her aversion to coffee. He couldn't fathom why she wouldn't tell him something so important...but then again, he had been there, done that. He knew well the feeling of paralyzing shock that followed drastic, life-altering news...and the way it was easier to keep to yourself, at least at first. He had done so with April, and he didn't pretend that it hadn't hurt their relationship, and she was hurting it now, keeping this from him.

No. Not 'this.' He wasn't even sure that 'this' existed, so he couldn't start thinking of it in terms of the real. He wouldn't. It wasn't right.

But damn it, he was afraid for her.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Luke had to be up and out early the next morning, far too early for Lorelai's liking, and so he had gracefully volunteered to sleep in his own bed and let her have her beauty sleep. Lorelai hadn't particularly minded. She had a lot of sorting out to do for the night.

With a sigh, she turned on her dinosaur of a computer and, without giving it a second look, headed into the kitchen to make a sandwich. It would be a good ten minutes before the monster was warmed up and ready for use, and anyway, she was hungry. She hadn't been eating much at Luke's lately, and that had cut away a good three-fourths of her daily nutrition (or lack thereof). Rummaging around her cupboards, Lorelai managed to come up with one unopened package of strawberry Pop Tarts and some marshmallow fluff. That was good enough. She ripped open the package, grabbed a knife, and spread the fluff between the two soft pop tarts. Smushing them together, she disposed of the wrapping and made her way back to the computer with her makeshift sandwich. It was still buzzing loudly, and she plopped herself down on her bed to eat, giving it another moment to itself.

Joining the green revolution, Lorelai had switched to paying her bills online after some heckling from Rory. She wasn't particularly fond of the internet and all its wonders, but it made Rory happy and saved a few trees, so she did it. It also, she was beginning to realize, made big red numbers much easier to hide from. She had been seeing more and more of them lately, as emails headed _OVERDUE_ rudely flooded her inbox. It wasn't that the inn was doing a whole lot worse than usual, although bookings had been going down increasingly, though only slightly, over the past few months. It was just a hard financial time for everyone, that was all, although it seemed _particularly _hard to Lorelei Gilmore.

She rubbed her temple with her free hand, trying to massage away the caffeine headache that had been not-so-gently throbbing there for something like a week now. She really was trying her hardest, and she commended herself for that. She had begun to cut back on what she could, namely cable and, more difficultly, coffee. She had gone over her monthly bills again and again, and it was simply an unavoidable fact, even to her well trained "see-only-what-I-want-to-see" eye, that coffee was her biggest unnecessary monthly expense. After fighting it for as long as she could, eventually there was no choice but to grit her teeth and do what had to be done.

And so she did. It was a swift kick to her pride, and also to her body's daily routine, to give up her excessive coffee habit. Luke was starting to worry, and she felt badly about that. Licking the leftover Fluff off of her fingers, she replayed the morning's conversation in her mind. More and more of their conversations were along those lines lately, and she knew that she was to blame. She couldn't bring herself to tell him about her money troubles, though. She knew that Luke had money, and she also knew that it would ruin the great new relationship they were doing so well in should she borrow any. She was desperate to do things on her own terms, and she knew that Luke would never let her flounder if he found out. Keeping it from him, she'd concluded, was better than worrying him.

Besides, she thought as she sat down in front of the glowing screen to see what she could do for her bills, everything would be just fine.


	5. Chapter 5

5

By the time Lorelai walked into Luke's after work the next evening, he had practically driven himself crazy with maybes. His mind had tortured him all night long and into the day, and it showed on his face.

"What's wrong?" His words were out before she'd even had a chance to sit down. The look on his face worried her, and she hopped back out of the chair she'd barely had a chance to sit in.

"Luke, are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm _not_ so good. Lorelai, you've got tell me what's going on. You've got to let me in. I want to give you your space, I want to let you work things out on your own, but I can't. I'm just not made that way, damn it, and if you're sick, I want to be able to help you. We can do this _together_ Lorelai, I—"

"_What_ are you talking about?" She grabbed him by the wrist, leading him to the stairs behind the counter. "Luke, everyone is staring. Can we go excise whatever spirit's possessed you _upstairs_? I'd really rather not get pea soup all over everyone."

"Yeah. Upstairs." He shook his head, seeming to regain his senses. "Caesar!" he called over his shoulder. "Take care of things for a minute, will you?"

"Can do, boss!" Caesar shouted back. In a moment they were safely alone inside Luke's apartment, both sitting on an end of his bed, staring at each other. It took a moment of silence before either of them could say a word.

"What's _wrong_ with you?" It was Lorelai who finally ended the quiet, tilting her head to the side and looking at him like a curious puppy.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied gruffly. "Something's wrong with you, Lorelai, and you won't tell me what it is. What am I supposed to think? You're not eating, you're not drinking coffee, you're obviously not getting any sleep…I'm worried about you. I mean, if you're sick or something, I just want to know. I want to help." She laughed out loud, immediately regretting the decision. Hurt registered on Luke's face, and Lorelai bit her lip to stem the laughter.

"You thought I was _sick_ just because I wasn't drinking coffee? Am I really that addicted?"

"You've been keeping something from me," Luke replied, ignoring her quip. "I've been trying my best to let it be, but I can't. If something's wrong, I need you to tell me. Now."

Lorelai focused her eyes on the bed, not daring to meet his. "It's nothing I can't take care of by myself, Luke."

"I don't care. I just want to know."

"I'm broke, okay?" His head snapped up, and she held his gaze. "I'm broke. The inn's income isn't staying steady, and my bill collectors don't seem to care _how_ many times I say pretty please, they still want their money. I was embarrassed and I didn't want to screw things up! We've got this really great thing going now, you know? I didn't want to ruin it by borrowing money from you."

"So you decided that _lying_ to me was the better option?" Luke asked slowly.

"Um…yes. It didn't sound that stupid in my head. In fact, it sounded like a really great idea."

"It wasn't."

"I know."

Luke sighed, desperate to be angry but finding himself incapable. "You should have just told me, Lorelai. We're together now, and I want to be able to help you with things like this." He ran his hand over his face, realizing for the first time that all the worst case scenarios he'd been imagining for almost twenty-four hours were nothing more than that; scenarios. He moved toward her on the bed, taking her in his arms and burying his face in her hair. "I swear, I have no idea what goes on in that brain of yours."

"You wouldn't want to," she assured him, smiling into his embrace. "You'd be scarred for life. It takes a lot of intense training to be able to live in here, mister." She wiggled an arm out from underneath him and poked herself in the forehead. "You just aren't qualified."

"Let me help you with your bills."

"Luke."

"Please, Lorelai. I can't just sit by and let _my_ girlfriend struggle financially. You have to let me help."

"No."

"Will you at least let me take a look at them?"

She pulled away, meeting his eyes and fighting herself. It would be a battle at first, convincing the her she had always been to become some _new_ her, a her that didn't hold so desperately to pride that it hurt the people she loved. The people who loved _her._ She'd get there, she was sure, but it would definitely be a battle.

She nodded noncommittally.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, friend," she warned him. "You haven't seen the horror that is my bank account."

"I'll take my chances," he replied, pulling her back to him and kissing her. "Listen. I'm doing my best letting you be you, you know? But you've got to realize that I can't stop being me. I'm going to worry about you, and I can't have you keeping things from me. Especially not things like this. It's the only way this thing's going to work this time."

"I know, I know."

"No more secrets?"

"No more secrets."

This time, believing her wasn't such hard work after all.


End file.
